Brush-tailed rock-wallaby

Petrogale penicillata

Blamed on foxes

IUCN Status: Vulnerable

EPBC Threat Rating: Very high

IUCN Claim: “ Predation by introduced foxes’”

Studies in support

Wallaby remains were found in 1% of fox scats (Pascoe et al. 2012)and were found in another study (Sinclair 2020).

Studies not in support

Wallaby remains were not found in fox scats where wallabies were common (Lunney et al. 1996).

Is the threat claim evidence-based?

There are no studies linking foxes to brush-tailed rock-wallaby populations.

Evidence linking Petrogale penicillata to foxes. Systematic review of evidence for an association between Petrogale penicillata and foxes. Positive studies are in support of the hypothesis that foxes contribute to the decline of Petrogale penicillata, negative studies are not in support. Predation studies include studies documenting hunting or scavenging; baiting studies are associations between poison baiting and threatened mammal abundance where information on predator abundance is not provided; population studies are associations between threatened mammal and predator abundance.
Evidence linking Petrogale penicillata to foxes. Systematic review of evidence for an association between Petrogale penicillata and foxes. Positive studies are in support of the hypothesis that foxes contribute to the decline of Petrogale penicillata, negative studies are not in support. Predation studies include studies documenting hunting or scavenging; baiting studies are associations between poison baiting and threatened mammal abundance where information on predator abundance is not provided; population studies are associations between threatened mammal and predator abundance.

References

Lunney, Daniel, Bradley Law, and Catherine Rummery. “Contrast between the visible abundance of the brush-tailed rock-wallaby, Petrogale penicillata, and its rarity in fox and dog scats in the gorges east of Armidale, New South Wales.” Wildlife Research 23.3 (1996): 373-379.

Pascoe, Jack H., et al. “Diet analysis of mammals, raptors and reptiles in a complex predator assemblage in the Blue Mountains, eastern Australia.” Australian Journal of Zoology 59.5 (2012): 295-301.

Sinclair, Robin. The diet of foxes in the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park. Diss. Deakin University, 2020.

Wallach et al. 2023 In Submission